Navajo Nation Expresses Concerns At Redistricting Public Forum

Jose de Jesus Rivera (l), Marguerite Mary Leoni, Winslow Mayor Jim Boles and Redistricting Commissioner Joshua Hall. Rivera and Leoni are attorneys working with the commission to ensure legal and non-discriminator public hearings and redistricting occur.

Multiple representatives from the Navajo Nation expressed concerns that they would be split into two different districts once the district lines are redrawn. The Navajo Nation presented a proposal to the commission that included maps drawn that would put the Navajo, Hopi and Apache tribes into one legislative and one congressional district.

Commissioner Joshua Hall stated at an earlier public hearing, representatives from the Hopi tribe stated they did not want to be in the same district as the Navajo.

One citizen suggested giving the Hopi the option to be in the same district as the Navajo but not to force them in if they did not want in.

Another topic that came up often throughout the discussion is the grouping of the eastern counties, including southern Apache and Navajo counties and Greenlee, Graham and Gila counties, together in the same district. The Eastern Arizona County Organization proposed that a rural legislative district be created to keep these areas together.

The common interests and common problems that bind these five rural areas were cited as a reason for their grouping. One citizen pleaded with the Commission to not group metropolitan areas with small, rural communities. “We [rural areas] are outvoted and overshadowed by the bigger cities,” she said.

Many representatives from rural areas, including Winslow, Holbrook, Show Low, Snowflake and St. John’s, expressed their concerns about the differences in opinion between the two groups.

One concern expressed was the different opinions about growth development. St. John’s City Manager Steve Anderson said unlike the major cities, which are trying to halt growth, smaller communities “would give out impact fees to get people to move to our areas.” He stated that there are other concerns in the area as well. The uniqueness in smaller communities’ economies, lifestyles, and political diversities were given as examples.

A citizen from Indian Wells stated he sees a problem with splitting the Navajo, Hopi and Apache tribes from the non-reservation areas, such as Winslow and Holbrook, because of the amount of money the tribes spend in the cities. “You see people go into a town with an empty truck and leave with a full one to go back to the reservation. We would be on the other side of the fence looking in,” he said.

The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission has held public hearings, such as this one, throughout the state to gather public opinion.

The Commission will take the public input they receive from the hearings and construct several tentative boundaries. The Commission will then send the maps to the Justice Department for clearance to ensure minority representation. Once cleared, final maps will be drawn and distributed.

The public can view each tentative map at the Commission’s website throughout the entire process.

Available in Citizen packets, which can be obtained from the Commission by request, is an form offering citizen an opportunity to express concerns. Citizens completing the form can suggest where they would like to see boundaries drawn and which groups or neighborhoods should not be divided.

To guarantee the gridding was completed in a neutral manner, the state was divided into four quadrants and a random drawing was conducted to determine in which quadrant the gridding would begin. The grid will begin at the Gila/Salt River Meridian and will be developed in a counter-clockwise direction ending with northeastern quadrant of the state being the last area to be gridded.

The commission is going to create eight congressional districts consisting of 641,329 people and 30 legislative districts consisting of 171,021 people.

The goals cited by the Commission are to establish districts that comply with the U.S. Constitution and the U. S. Voting Rights Act. They also will work within the following guidelines to the extent of practicality: create congressional and legislative districts with equal populations; districts shall be geographically compact and contiguous and boundaries shall respect communities of interest; district lines shall use visible geographic features, city, town and county boundaries and undivided census tracts; party-competitive districts should be favored where to do so would create no significant detriment to the other goals.

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